Question of the Day

Whose side of the story do you believe?

INDIANAPOLIS — Many black youths fall under a spell of “gangster mentality,” preventing them from becoming leaders and making a positive impact in politics, the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

The civil rights activist blamed Hollywood and the record industry for making “gangsterism” seem cool and acceptable.

“We have got to get out of this gangster mentality, acting as if gangsterism and blackness are synonymous,” Mr. Sharpton said Thursday at the annual conference of the National Association of Black Journalists.

“I think we’ve allowed a whole generation of young people to feel that if they’re focused, they’re not black enough. If they speak well and act well, they’re acting white, and there’s nothing more racist than that,” he said.

Female Army officer with top rank dead

Retired Maj. Gen. Kathryn George Frost, who was the highest ranking woman in the Army when she retired last year after a 31-year career, died yesterday of breast cancer. She was 57.

Gen. Frost, wife of former Rep. Martin Frost, Texas Democrat, had been battling cancer for four years.

“Kathy was a woman of incredible strength,” Mr. Frost said. “I will miss her deeply.

Gen. Frost was commander of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, or AAFES, which operates the commissaries and post and base exchanges on military installations nationally and overseas, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Before becoming AAFES commander, Gen. Frost served four years as the Army adjutant general and commander of the eastern sector of the Military Entrance Processing Command.

Federal judge rejects Commandments challenge

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge yesterday said a Ten Commandments monument outside a courthouse can stay, rejecting arguments that it promotes Christianity at the expense of other religions.

U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White in Muskogee, Okla., ruled that Haskell County did not violate the Constitution by erecting the monument. The county did not “overstep the constitutional line demarcating government neutrality toward religion,” he wrote.

Micheal Salem, an attorney representing the American Civil Liberties Union and resident James W. Green, said he thought “the court’s decision really represents a loss for religious freedom.” He said he would have to thoroughly review Judge White’s decision before deciding whether to appeal.